mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

[southwest395]

On my mercury 170hp it doesnt have a altenator it has from what iam told a voltage regulator. And from my understanding the voltage regulator read from the fly wheel, how do you test the voltage regulator to see if it is produce enough voltage. and how much voltage should it be produce

 

[stonyloam]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

With the engine running it should put out about 14 volts. Go here http://boatinfo.no/lib/library.html Mercruiser manual #8 go to page 146. If you are putting out high voltage (16V) chances are your regulator is bad. If it is faulty, time for an alternator, I lke the kit from Breezeworks http://www.breezeworks.net/

 

[southwest395]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

With the engine running it should put out about 14 volts. Go here http://boatinfo.no/lib/library.html Mercruiser manual #8 go to page 146. If you are putting out high voltage (16V) chances are your regulator is bad. If it is faulty, time for an alternator, I lke the kit from Breezeworks http://www.breezeworks.net/

So do i just take a volt meter while engine is runing. and touch the leads to positive and negative terminal on the battery. and see what the digital meter says.

 

[stonyloam]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

Yes, measure the voltage with the engine off, and running.

 

[fmalott]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

as more people reply to your thread you will be told to convert to a alternator do it!! i listened and it works great and it's cheaper to convert then buying a new voltage reg.

 

[southwest395]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

where is the voltage regulator located on the motor? does anyone have a picture of what it looks like? and what wires to test ?

 

[fmalott]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

where is the voltage regulator located on the motor? does anyone have a picture of what it looks like? and what wires to test ?

here is what it looks like after i disconnected it from stator i left it on until i rebuilt motor. should be right under exhaust manifold

 

[achris]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

here is what it looks like after i disconnected it from stator i left it on until i rebuilt motor. should be right under exhaust manifold

Is that an old Mustang in the background?

 

[fmalott]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

yes it is it's not mine a freind is rebuilding it with fuel injection

 

[achris]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

yes it is it's not mine a friend is rebuilding it with fuel injection

Sweeet....

 

[southwest395]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

what wires do i test . orange or red ? and does it need to be in the water or in gear ? and do i check for voltage or amps

 

[southwest395]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

and i see that the water or coolant hoses connect to that as well. If i switch to the altenator kit. do i just leave the voltage regulator on the motor for the hoses or do i do something else with hoses ? Does that also regulate the water or coolant that runs threw there as well ? not sure how it work. sorry for stupid questions thanks everyone

 

[nola mike]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

I just went through this. You can follow the troubleshooting guide in the manual, but basically if you're not getting 14V out of the system, either your regulator (most likely) or something else upstream isn't functioning--all the tests end with "replace regulator". Either way, the alt conversion is the most cost effective way to go. The regulator can be left in place, the coolant going through the regulator is just to cool the regulator.

 

[fmalott]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

and i see that the water or coolant hoses connect to that as well. If i switch to the altenator kit. do i just leave the voltage regulator on the motor for the hoses or do i do something else with hoses ? Does that also regulate the water or coolant that runs threw there as well ? not sure how it work. sorry for stupid questions thanks everyone

if you do take the voltage reg off you still have to have a tube for the water to flow threw. when i took my voltage reg off i pop the copper tube off and used that

 

[southwest395]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

ok i took digital meter and switched it to read 200 dc volts. its reading 12.27 volts from the battery. And if i disconect the positive wire off the battery while motor is runing it shuts off. does that mean its bad. Should i be testing somewhere else other then the wires of the battery.

 

[achris]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

ok i took digital meter and switched it to read 200 dc volts. its reading 12.27 volts from the battery. And if i disconect the positive wire off the battery while motor is runing it shuts off. does that mean its bad. Should i be testing somewhere else other then the wires of the battery.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER remove ANY cables from the battery with the engine running!!!.... You can kill instruments and voltage regulators with spikes...

Why did you do that?

Chris.....

 

[achris]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

The way to test it is to check the voltage on the battery with the engine not running... Run the engine at about 1000rpm and check the voltage... It should rise to about 14.0V and stabilise.... If it does that, then the system is working properly...

Chris.......

 

[southwest395]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

glad to know that now. i was told by bryce marine. If it is running and you pull the wire off and it shuts off why its running its bad. Ok so runing do i have throttle in the choke runing position or put it into gear at 1000rpm. or just idle at a 1000rpm and then test wires on the battery again or test red or orange wire on regulator

 

[achris]

Re: mercury cruiser 170hp 3.7 voltage regulator

If a marine shop (any shop for that matter) tells you to remove a wire with the engine running, DON'T go back to that shop!!!!
Just do the test I told you, check the battery voltage before you start the engine. Run it at 1000rpm (in gear or neutral, doesn't matter, 1000 rpm is 1000rpm) and read the voltage on the battery... It should rise to about 14 volts and stay there... If it doesn't go up or it goes up too far, then the system is not working and needs to be replaced....

Chris.........

Don't worry about red wires or orange wires, just on the battery....

If the voltage regulator wasn't dead before you pulled the battery cable on a running engine, it probably is now....